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Jeffrey Donaldson wrote letter to alleged victim expressing regret, trial hears
The jury heard a handwritten letter in which Donaldson said he regretted the hurt, pain and distress he caused.
- On Thursday, prosecution barrister Rosemary Walsh read a handwritten letter Sir Jeffrey Donaldson sent to his accuser in June 2020, in which he expressed "how much I truly regret all the hurt, pain and distressed I have caused" and took "full responsibility for it all."
- Donaldson, a former long-standing MP for Lagan Valley, was arrested and charged in March 2024 after leading the DUP back into devolved government at Stormont following a two-year boycott of the powersharing institutions.
- Video evidence showed Complainant A alleging abuse from quite a young age, claiming she became "very sexually aware" around age six or seven and describing touching that "happened for quite a while" and a significant incident as a teenager when Donaldson allegedly held a light.
- Defence barrister Kieran Vaughan cross-examined the complainant Thursday, suggesting her memory was "foggy" and proposing she either fabricated incidents or "dreamt it and over the years come to believe it is true," which she called "completely ridiculous and insulting."
- The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks, while Donaldson's wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson faces a concurrent trial of facts after Judge Paul Ramsey ruled her unfit to stand trial on mental health grounds; she denies five counts of aiding and abetting.
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Great Yorkshire RadioSir Jeffrey Donaldson wrote letter to alleged sex abuse victim expressing 'regret', court hears
Former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson wrote a letter to a woman who has accused him of sexually abusing her as a child expressing his "regret" for "all the hurt, pain and distress I have caused", his trial has heard.
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Leaning Left9Leaning Right2Center7Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Left
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